Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-07-08
Nv OLD noM4S CIRCUS.

| Chronicle. to the circus erected during
the reign of Diocletian, in OF about the
wear oS4. The amphitheater is some
| 1o6 feet in height, 1872 yards long, and
l46 Yards wide-its entire circum-
/ ference being 52S yards. Forty-tive
tiers of steps rise around the amphi-
! thcater The circus is, on the whole,
! peculiarly Roman open-air structure.
! It's walls being composed of enormous
/ stones some six feet long and three
| broad, while the flights OF galleries,
| leaning one against the other. con-
/ tribute most to the strength and dur
/ ability of the cdi.icc. Viewed from an
/ cminenca, the circus looks like an eI-
tinct volcano, and generally reminds
one of the Colosseum of Rome. What
blood-stained visions Of the past obtrude
themselves on the minds eye while one
gazes on these still stout and sturdy
ruins Of a semi-barbarous age! What
cries of agony must not these old walls
! have heard, and what wild acclamations
Of triumph must not have thrilled the
echoes of these gigantic round vaults
and galleries at times when seventy
thousand spectators met to see Chris
| tians or gladiators "butchered to make a
Roman holiday" Hither were brought
in chains TALL stalwart rusticS from the
forests of Germany to wrestle with
famished tigers i'll the arena; pale-faced,
white-rolaEA virgins, whose only crime
was that they were believers in the
doctrines of Christ, and who paid the
penalty of their belief, torn asunder by
the fangs of angry lions; suject princes
from the banks of the Danube, and
athletes from the banks of the Arno:
slaves from the palaces of the rich, and
serfs from the novels of the poor, whose
blood, as it flowed, and whose agoniz-
ing cries, as they rang through the
amphitheater. tickled the palates Of
thousands OF pitiless men and women!
Here sat the lordly patrician, sur
rounded by laclleys, in his well-cush-
toned box, gloating over the CORY flesh
and bones Of the victim. BY his side
Tolls his beautiful dame, ablaze with
jewels and reveling in the luXury of
purple and fine linen, while her eyes
sparkle with unwonted brilliance, and
her sensuous lips q,1iver in the throes
of delight as she glanccs downward on
the nlangled remains of forms once as
symmetrical and fanltless as her own!
These bouts Of muscle took place quite
frequently at Verona. Every election
OF duumvir or an edile was a preteXt
for one of these blood-feasts; while
candidates for political honors often got
them up at their own expense in order
to curry popular favor, or rich folks
left legacies which We're devoted to the
sustainment Of such orgies. In those
days people went to the circus just as
people go nowadays to the cafe or
theater. The seventy-two arcades
around the amDhitheater are at present
let out to cheap-jack vendors and sun
the by, have any adequate idea Of the
historical surroundings Of the peculiar
market-place where they dispose of
their petty wares. -Antiquarians and
scholars generally protest against the
presence OF the peddlers in such spot,
but times are hard and the corporation
has very few francs in its treasury,
and as the letting OF the arcades brings
in profit, the city ediles prefer to do as
they are doing rather than become
bankrupts by protecting the circus from
vandalism and profanity
GIG iI:E;III:.> IN SPllN